Help to idetify battleship ensigns/flags

Hello everyone,

Can anybody help me please to identify the flags on the battleships in this oil painting please, and possibly name the battle it depicts?

Many thanks

 

Your picture is very small but I've tried to at least lighten it up a bit.

 

Thanks for your message. These are all of the photos that I have to hand, apparently it doesn't seem to be signed...

 

Probably, Battle of Trafalgar ?

 

Thanks a lot. I've just uploaded some more images for the moderator. Please see above.

 

Hi Ritzy, I'm thinking that era too, or The Battle of Copenhagen perhaps, the precursor to Trafalgar?

 

The frame and the back make me think this is a modern painting. If so it may be a copy of an older painting but then again, could be something else.

 

Yes, a decorative painting. Looks like a giclée. Could be a reproduction. One ship appears to wear the American flag so (obviously) not Trafalgar, a battle in which the U.S. did not engage.

Debora

 

May be a made in China interpretation of this.

Debora

 

May be it's on this page..... https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cf/Naval_flags_of_the_World_1783_(small).jpg

 

following up on Debora's suggestion:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_frigate_Aréthuse_(1812)

HMS Amelia in action with the French frigate Aréthuse, 1813, by John Christian Schetky, 1852

 

Lovely painting. And very likely the inspiration.

Debora

 

Just sayin...

 

Just not positive that's an American flag........but I've been known to be wrong too!!! The somewhat loose stapling of the 'canvas' on the back looks questionable to me as well and I think was mentioned above.....

​

 

You're right. That appears to be a British Empire flag of some sort.

Debora

 

I forwarded this to my favorite military historian (DH!) for his opinion. Here's his answer:

the one on the left is british - it flies the red ensign (red flag, with the union jack in the top left quadrant).
the only ships in the royal navy that flew that flag belonged to its 'Red Squadron" (after 1864 the red ensign was retired and replaced with the white ensign; only merchant ships now fly the red ensign)
so this puts it before 1864
this is a ship of the line ..ie. a battleship, and by the looks of her a 74-gunner (a 'third rate' ship of the line....
it is odd, however, that she does not seem to have her masts....it was not uncommon to lose one or even two masts in a sea battle of the era, but all of them? she was taking a major pounding
so was the ship opposite. her has a french ensign....but this particular flag was flown by the Republic in the 1790s....it was later replaced by Napoleon with a different ensign.
she too appears to be a 74 gunner......the 74s were not the biggest warships in either navy (those would be the 80, 90, 100 and 120 gunners which were the 1st and 2nd raters )...but they were the mainstay....like heavy cruisers.
as to WHICH pair of ships.....1794-95. red squadron duel with a french warship....both so heavily damaged as to be unable to sail...
too early for trafalgar (1805) or Cape Saint Vincent (1797) or Battle of the Nile (1798)
there are so damn many of these
it looks similar to this one (arethuse vs hms amelia) but of course it isn't...these are frigates, smaller, and the brit is on the starboard (right) of this painting, whereas the brit is on the port (left) of the one suggested here

sooooooo my best guess is it is based on this famous painting of the Glorious First of June, which is in 1794 - the right period for the ensigns.
the british ship is HMS Brunswick. but she is between the Achille and vengeur du peuple



Naval battles are not my "main area" of expertise, so this is only my best guess.

 

Speechless. Thanks to your DH.

Debora

 

Given the differences, I think the best that can be said is some French/British naval engagement. I wouldn't worry too much about which ship is flying which ensign - if this is a Chinese copy, it's the sort of change they make to call it an original work, avoiding potential copyright claims.

 

Cropped to approximate copy.

Debora